One of the most heated "debates" within the wireless industry is the one between iOS and Android fans. In case it isn't obvious, we've put "debate" in quotes, because it's much more of a flame war, rather than a civilized debate, but anyway, you get the point. So here we are, not trying to start yet another flame war, but wanting to make it easy for users to find out what the meaningful differences between iOS 7 and Android 4.3 are. And without further ado, let's dive straight into it.

Lock and home screens

The lock screen (if enabled) is the very first thing a user sees upon turning their smartphone on, which is why its flawless execution is of utmost importance. And it is hard to decide which one we like more – the one on iOS 7 or on Android 4.3, but we're pretty sure they both leave room for improvement. The iOS 7 lock screen is minimalist, providing instant access to the camera, the Control Center, or the pending notifications. However, it would have been better if one could slide either way to unlock it; only a swipe to the right takes you to the home screen. The Android 4.3 lock screen is flexible when it comes to customization, with its widgets and all, and it doesn't matter which way you swipe to unlock it. However, the selection of widgets one can place there isn't as broad as we wish it was. Overall, both lock screens are great, although they could have been better.

On each home screen of an iPhone 5, 5S, or 5C there's room for 24 icons in total. Interestingly, a stock Android home screen on a Google Nexus 4 leaves room for only 20 app shortcuts even though the smartphone has a larger display with higher resolution. Of course, that's not too big of a deal, especially when both interfaces allow apps to be sorted in folders. Speaking of which, the iOS 7 approach to folders is more elegant as there is virtually no limit to how many apps the user can place in one. On Android in its stock form, there's a limit of 16 apps per folder, which isn't bad, but it is a drawback nonetheless.

The layout of an iOS 7 home screen is well designed, but perhaps it's all a bit too static, which is why we tend to like the versatility of Android. It is just that widgets are a pretty cool feature that Apple's mobile OS has yet to adopt in one form or another, and we don't see this happening anytime soon. But there are things that Android might learn from iOS 7. One of them is that the text, which is used to display the names of apps, changes color depending on what wallpaper image is being used (but it doesn't work with dynamic wallpapers for some reason). If the image is light, the text goes dark, and vice versa, which makes app names much easier to read. On Android 4.3, there's a shadow under the apps' names, but still, text isn't as legible as it is on iOS 7.

Quick controls and notifications

Control Center adds functionality that iOS sorely needed. Simply put, swiping up from the bottom of an iOS 7 home screen brings up a list of toggle buttons for turning things like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off, controlling music playback, adjusting the screen's brightness, even using the camera's LED as a flashlight. But Control Center isn't really a groundbreaking feature. Options like these have been available on custom Android UIs for a long time, and the stock Android 4.3 interface has many of them as well out of the box, located in a menu accessible from the notification bar. Furthermore, Control Center might be triggered accidentally if one is scrolling on a page or trying to launch the camera from its lock screen shortcut, located in the lower right-hand corner. Yet nevertheless, Apple's solution to adding toggles in iOS 7 is still pretty elegant and it is at least as good as Android's approach.

The Notification Center in iOS 7 has been overhauled and now takes the user straight to their agenda. That's very convenient for people who actually use the Calendar app. Those who find it too crowded in there are free to pick what notifications are to be displayed there – stocks information, unread email, Game Center alerts, reminders, and more. Android's notification bar is a bit different for it doesn't display much if there aren't any pending notifications. But on the other hand, the user does get updates via Google Now.

A noteworthy advantage for iOS 7 versus Android is that both the Notification Center and the Control Center can be accessed from any screen, even when they are hidden. Yup, even if you're playing a game or watching a movie. However, a double-slide is required in order to do that, which prevents the user from accidentally pulling out either of them. In Android, the notification panel is often not visible if a full-screen application is running, which renders it inaccessible.

Customization features

When it comes to customization, Android is still king with its widgets, live wallpapers, and custom launchers. Tons of them are available for download from the Play Store for anyone bored of their Android device's interface. However, Apple has done some progress and is now catching up, without making things too complicated for iOS 7 users. The latest version of the platform features the so-called parallax effect, which shifts the background image depending on the angle, at which the handset is being held. That creates an illusion of depth and the effect is really nice in our opinion – pretty, yet unobtrusive.

In addition, we have Apple's dynamic wallpapers (yup, they are just like Android's live wallpapers) – these can be set on both the home and the lock screens. Unfortunately, all you get out of the box is a single dynamic wallpaper in several different colors, and the wallpaper is suspiciously similar to Android's stock Phase Beam live wallpaper. We hope that someday, more dynamic wallpapers will be released for iOS 7, but this could be just wishful thinking.

Well they compared things Apple can do to things android can do. Like the Calendar review is fair until you realize you can put your calendar in one of your home screens or on your home screen etc. You dont need to open your phone application to make a call, you can just click on someones picture on your homescreen. My wife just switched to Iphone from s3. She wishes she didnt. I went with S4.

My brother didn't really care for the changes in iOS7 as well and he went from an iPhone 4S to 5 to 5S. The only thing that bothers me about iOS7 is the super coloful Playskool icons on a device that looks pretty professional. If the iPhone 5s came with a 4.5" screen and a more staid color scheme in line with OSX I would probably consider it.

Also, despite running on Android 4.1.2 with LG's UI, my Spectrum 2 is just as fluid as my brother's iPhone 5s in scrolling, typing and browsing. So there's no lag on this Android and maybe I'll keep the phone long enough to see 4.3.

i dont know what OS your talking about cuz the two are not even close. as far as someone saying that it looks cheap?? are you kidding, lets be honest here the transition effects are pretty nice, the way they implement the folders is a nice thing to see. honestly i know this is a mostly pro android site by no fault of the site creators, but damn, i like what they did and they closed the gap is a pretty big way.

"routs texts over the web instead of eating up the user's monthly SMS allowance. "

Barring the typo, I disagree that this is an advantage of iOS. It's a major disadvantage. Everyone and their mother has unlimited texting. Few smartphone users have unlimited data. My brother repeatedly hits his data cap of 2GB, and has to disable mobile data often. iMessages no longer come through, and he misses texts from other iPhone users because of it.

I kinda disagree here. Text are a few kb to maybe a meg for a mms. But I have to pay 30 a month for unlimited texting on my 3 lines. So I would take it over my data plan anyday. Plus, at the place I work when I have to go out on to the manufacturing floor (not very often) I don't get texts because I don't have cell service. But there is WIFI out there.

i dont agree with you either, because one thing imessage does that i like so much, UNCOMPRESSED images and videos. i hate the fact that android does it, hey lets be honest, whats the point of a great camera when you send a picture mail compresses the image so much that you might as well send it with a flip phone.

As far as iMessages going over the data cap i think your missing something else, i would send about 10,000 text messages a month and never go over my data cap, so its not iMessages doing it i would take a longer look in to the phone and see where the real issue is.

It is seamless and is sent like a regular text message. I have had conversations break in the middle from one to the other because I was in the middle of nowhere on 2G, and they just keep coming through. They work just fine on WiFi, too, so I don't see what the problem is.

There is setting if you need to turn iMessage off, to still recieve iMessages as simply text instead.. From the sound of things your brother doesnt have that setting on. If that is on, no messages will be missed. You simply will not get them as quick as an iMessage.

That's cause the purpose of this comparison is to compare stock versions. Touchwiz isn't Android, it isn't controlled by google. It's samsungs skin atop of Android. If iOS had different skins like what OEMS can do with Android then it would be fair to compare with touchwiz, otherwise your not doing a fair comparison by comparing something stock with an overlay by an OEM. This is an Android vs iOS comparison, and as I said, touchwiz isn't Android, it's an overlay. Stop being a Samsung fanboy.

How are the Iphone users enjoying their new Android's out there??? lol IOS7 is just that. I think I see a lawsuit in the future soon against Apple. lol Apple clearly has run out of ideas so they are having to look just like an Android as the end result. smh just die already Apple, lol

10.Sauce (unregistered)

Well, he's not completely wrong. I mean the "notification" center is stolen. The recents window is nearly identical minus the fact that iOS is horizontal. Then the new "live wallpapers". I mean it's kind of sad. Apple should be sued just for a taste of their own medicine.

I'm not saying that android didn't borrow from other OS, as clearly it did. I really with WebOS had not been given up on so soon. My point is that apple sues everyone like everything they make is original when clearly it's not. The only thing I mentioned that is an android original is live wallpapers IIRC.

Comparing iOS to Android is like comparing Micheal Bay's Transformers to Pacific Rim. It's ok to tell me you prefer one over the other. But you must be plain delusional if you tell me Transformers is filmed better and directed by a better director.

Transformers relies on explosions and slow-mo Megan Fox's boobs to be interesting, while Pacific Rim is actually well shot, realistic (as in physics-wise, movements and stuff), and doesn't have Megan Fox jumping around in skimpy outfits.

Same for iOS, they rely on fancy transitions and Ads to make the iPhone even remotely interesting while Android is more functional and cuts the crap of fancy stuff thats supposed to make the OS look good (Although, they do leave this to the user). It's ok to say you prefer iOS to Android for reasons, but telling me iOS is better than Android is just delusional.

Why would you prefer the iPhone music player? They have nearly the same functionality, plus you can have most your information on the cloud. When you make a song purchase the song will need to download to be played (at least the last time I tried it) while on android it will appear on your media, and be ready to stream, no full song download required, also the album pictures have a nice effect added to Google play (album cover moving left to right while playing)

Also if not mistaken Google keep comes installed on 4.3 as the note taking applications, at least on the nexus 7

Honest question: the point about iMessage... isn't it required for the receiver to have an iDevice as well with iMessage? If so wouldn't Googles Voice app be better? It can do both calls and sms thru web... Across platforms. I think once they integrate voice into Hangouts, it would be the ultimate app. Heck don't have to pay for minute either, just get data. Sorry if I am mistaken...

That is correct, you need another idevice in order to use imessage but also Google voice doesn't come installed on 4.3, we will have to wait for the integration with hangouts to occur (maybe along with 4.4) in order to decide witch is superior, but with hangouts already being cross platform I can see a possible advantage over there... And it would be something to consider for the righter, if you don't have many friends with iPhones then iMessage might not be much of a big thing when considering a device with iOS, but its still there

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